This is War!
by Burnmoon
Summary: War is coming. A few months after Shen's defeat, Tigress is left scarred mentally after its tragedies. However, a rising force has reared it's ugly head, testing the abilities of all- and asking Tigress to get harder, or die. Nokira is rising. People are dying. And now unlikely alliances are being forged and whole cities laid to ruin... and they must stop it at all costs. T-Gore
1. Chapter 1-Stained in Blood

_Well, I thought I might do something different in the Kung Fu Panda fan fiction universe. After browsing through the section, I have concluded this: It's majority includes PoXTigress, and maybe the odd cliche villian here and there. So I thought I might spice things up with a darker story with epic proportions and whenever the numerous OC appears I'll do my best to develop them best I can. Because of my intense hatred of Legends of Awesomeness, I haven't watched the show beyond the first few episodes and I'm probably going to deny its existence completely. Some minor magic stuff. Oh ya! In this story the Furious Five and other animals are going to act more like their species. Like acts such as smelling, that upraised lip thing with the tigers, that kinda stuff. Don't worry, they will still be in character though. _

_Songs Listened to- this is war by 30 Second to Mars, The Death Note Soundtrack (God I love that Anime!)_

* * *

Tigress twitched her ear as she heard Shifu's small, padded steps approach. Of course, she could have gotten up right away and been extra ready for his sharp awake call, but she was still recovering from the atrocities of Gongmen- including nightmares, and a certain edginess she tried hard to cover up. So right now she needed extra sleep- and the big cat was going to grab every last millisecond of it. However, the tiger's pride kept her from being the last one up (even though in the almost simultaneous wake up, she could tell who was up first or last), so with a wide yawn, she curled up like a spring on the mat, prepared for the tolling of the bell.

And when it came, she pounced, digging her front claws in the wood and swinging her bag legs forward to gain the upright position and she soon discovered she tied even with Viper. That snake was fast. Normally, Tigress had stopped waking up like that because over time her claws were starting to mark the wood, but her body was still sore and it was just easier. Still, Tigress had to admire her own grace in awakening, however, Po was less than graceful.

"Wah? Oh, right, just give me a sec..." The panda crashed through the door, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and staring at Shifu. "Well, it was at least a whole second of improvement." Tigress commented, her whiskers twitching in amusement.

"Ya! Give me a week and I'll wake up as fast as you guys!" cheered the panda, eyes shining. Out of all the five, Po was the one surprising recovering the most. They had all faced tragedy in Gongmen- but Po had been spared the worst of it, not being imprisoned by Shen. And he was trying his best to keep up with the Five- despite his injuries. So the tiger could admire that.

"It is nice to see you all up so early..." Shifu began, and Tigress rotated her ears to his voice, interested.

"But seeing as Gongmen was a hard time for us all, I'll understand if you want to take the day off,"

Ha! Ya, right. Shifu knew all too well that none of the Five would dare sleep in. But Po, however, despite his improved condition... The comment was directed towards him, definitely. He wasn't as hardened at the Five- and his wounds would no doubt come back to irritate him. It was supposed to be subtle enough- until, of course, Monkey decided to make it blatantly obvious by commenting on it.

_Cough_"Po"_Cough._

Tigress flicked her tail and shot a dangerous look at Monkey, breaking her forward facing gaze. Monkey shrugged his shoulders, earning himself to gaze at all of the tiger's sharp incisors and teeth. He fell silent, but not before Po caught it. The panda's gaze fell, but he didn't say anything. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Tigress spoke up, irritated.

"Right then, I'll be in the training hall, if anyone needs me." She said smoothly, shooting a small, sympathetic glance towards Po. Stalking off, she heard the other Five plus Po following her as they walked past Shifu. Po's heavy steps stopped because Shifu had pulled him away, the tiger's ears pricking to pick up on the conversation. But she stopped. It wasn't her business and if Po felt the need to talk about it then he could.

A few minutes later, she whirling and dodging furiously within the training hall, pondering on so many different issues. It didn't matter- she had memorized the pattern of the swinging spiked... things and just needed to hide the fact until Shifu found out and made it different. With Po's revelation upon his family, her thinkings on her own family had resurfaced with his. Shifu had been father enough for her, but it didn't mean she couldn't wonder about it. From what she knew about herself, Tigress knew that her species was incredibly proud and over-achieving. Would her parents actually give her up so easily? It was a thought that had bothered her for so long. However, her musing was short lived as Shifu darted in, barking,

"There is an out of control riot in Spire City. People are getting killed, and the guards aren't able to hold them back. The mayor is in danger!"

Well, it was no surprise there. Spire City was about a half-hour top speed from the Valley of Peace. The Spire was a huge city, but recently their wealth had taken a startling dip and the ugly, unruly citizens were showing their faces more often than not. So, recently, the Five had been taking more visits there than Tigress would have liked. Oh well, duty calls.

"Po!" She yowled, darting out of the Jade Palace. However, the panda had already heard and was running after them.

* * *

About 10 minutes in, she could sense Po lagging behind. It was no surprise, however, and Tigress felt a little guilty. She could always maintain a top sprint on all fours for about 30 minutes, and the Furious Five had kept pace with her just as easily. However, Po was still learning. Twitching her whiskers, she slowed to a fast lope, allowing Po to catch up. She could hear his labored breathing and was proud of him for keeping pace most of the time.

When they reached the Spire, Tigress was reminded of how much she didn't like this place. In truth, it was pretty hideous, with more factories than houses and the sky an ever-present hazy purple. It was nowhere near the glory of Gongmen City, with it's spiraling, magnificent pagodas (The Tower of Sacred Flame, now destroyed, most impressive of all) that caught the orange-red rays of the setting sun- causing the city to look like it was on fire. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Tigress would have loved to spend a sunset on one of the rooftops, to watch the city slowly start to glow like a kindling lantern. In truth Gongmen had been one of the most impressive cities she had visited.

But right now, she wouldn't travel back to the cursed city if someone held her at knife-point. All it was was a reminder of how she had failed- and she hated the city for all of it's glory.

But, once again she was slapped out of her musings when she heard the furious rioting of Spire City, the citizens roaring with outrage. She heard Po give a howl and start to charge forward, but she held out her paw to stop him.

"Wait a minute. We need to see whats happening..."

She crept forward, weaving in between the crowd. She felt Mantis hop on her shoulder- but she could hardly blame him. She was nearing the front- and that was when things started to go wrong.

Tigress smelled blood and stumbled on something, looked down, and reeled, backing up into Monkey. It was a dead body, horribly mutilated. Seeing a broken spear, she assumed it was a guard- but otherwise she would have had no clue.

The body had been ripped apart- like claws and scored it's body. She knew that her claws scored deep, but this poor thing almost looked ripped in half. No, this was a weapon's work. The body reminded her of Gongmen harbor- the way bodies had been flung apart, people losing life and literally limb. It was horrible. Taking a deep breath, she gently hopped the body, hearing Viper's sad gasp as she entered the front.

Now, this was a sight to behold. The mayor, a trembling raccoon, was on his knees. A fierce looking, broad shouldered leopard with a set of heavy armor was laying a heavy left paw on the poor raccoon's shoulder, baring his teeth. In the right hand, he held a heavy war hammer, which was stained with blood. However, unlike the other heavy brutes Tigress had fended off, the leopard had the look of unmistakable cunning. Black triangles under his eyes brought out the striking dark amber gaze. She wondered why no one was helping the mayor- and then she saw why.

A beautiful snow-white she-wolf stood kneeling at his right side, cooling herself with a wickedly sharp metal fan and staring at the crowd with nervous crystal-blue eyes. Her upper body was covered with a soft blue-silk, with a deep blue sash tied around her waist. However, Tigress spotted the black tint under her shirt that showed black armor. Her lower body had a dress tight around her legs, a long saber protruding from her side.

Next to the she-wolf was a long, dusty brown pit-viper. He had short throwing knives strapped around his body, with a bouquet of knives he clutched tight with his tail. The snake held a hard, cruel yellow gaze, his forked tongue flickering in and out frequently.

To the left of the leopard were the less impressive looking warriors. Right beside him was a lithe-looking raccoon like the mayor. She was covered neck down to her legs in black, with a small dagger at her side. No doubt it was poisoned.

The next one the tiger almost missed. It was only because she saw movement. It was a small field mouse, with delicate posture and physique. However, she had a small needle and two vials. No doubt the poison and the antidote.

Tigress thought that was all, and she started to tense her muscles to spring, unsheathing her claws.

But then she saw him. In the back, almost hidden by the leopard's broadness. It was a red fox- unexpectedly tall and lithe for his species. But the muzzle was much too broad for a fox, and it couldn't be a wolf... but was this thing? It had a black metal mask the widened at the middle, covering almost all of his face. At the lower middle of the mask, it split into an inverted 'V' to reveal all of the muzzle. The mask had two long, straight 'spines', both to the inside of his black ears. She could see that red flames were painted on to make it look like the mask was at the tip of a red fire. Where his eyes were, she could see nothing. Nothing but black holes. She knew that eyes were in there somewhere, but it bothered her that she couldn't see his face.

His shoulders were padded with shoulder spaulders, the same design as his mask. He wore a dark red shirt and black shorts, the tip of his tail split into a 'V'. It looked like furry scorpion pincers.

What chilled her was what he was equipped with. His arms had bracers, but they were modified so that leather-like gloves were attached to them, covering his paws. From them sprouted vicious, wicked two-segmented, long, thin steel claws. What they should have been doing was glinting in the sunlight. But no, the right one seemed to be crusted over with something. Rust? No, no... To deep a red, almost... black.

'Oh Gods!' She thought, morified. It was crusted over in blood. Only one of his steel claws were required to rip that poor guardsman almost in half. And thenshe saw something else. His feet were different. She shouldn't have been able to see his claws, but there they were. White and curved and sharp. They almost had a yellowish tinge to it. And yes, the glinted in the sun, but so unnaturally...

Tigress was stunned. He had studded his back paws with teeth. Teeth! It was sickening. These... These abominations of animals had to be put down. Right now. She growled and stepped away, into an alleyway.

The Five greeted her, Po saying excitedly,

"Oh man, did you see that? Crazy! Alright alright, time to put together a game plan... Alright, Mantis, you take out the tiny mouse lady-"

"No, no!" Tigress said.

"This is a different situation. We need to be careful because at least two of their weapons are covered in deadly poison. And did you see the one at the back?"

Viper spoke up.

"The fox, right?"

"Yes. We need to be extra careful of him."

Po snorted.

"What? It's the leopard we need to be careful about. My cheeck still aches from the wolf's hammer."

"No. I am certain that he is the leader. We attack from all sides. Look out for eachother, don't let them touch you. Got it?"

They all nodded, and darted away, Po yelping and scrambling besides the tiger. Tigress smiled grimly.

"Alright, lets go."

* * *

Tigress slammed her front paws down on the leopard's chest, knocking him off-balance. She swung her back legs forward, kicking him squarely at the fox-wolf. However, the leopard twisted in the air and landed on all fours, skidding back and stopping inches from the fox's feet. He left deep claw marks in the wood, and he leapt to meet Tigress, both paws splayed out, claws unsheathed. He held the heavy warhammer in his jaws, and even though Tigress twisted expertly away from his claws, he swung his head and caught her in the side.

The big cat hissed in pain, and she lashed out with hr back paws, kicking him in the side and sending him sprawling- though once again he landed on all fours. She allowed herself a quick glance to her teammates. Po was assisting Viper with the other enemy snake, Mantis was dealing with the field mouse, and Monkey was dealing with the raccoon. Crane had cornered the she-wolf, who was sobbing and begging for mercy. Tigress had overestimated her. However, the noticed that the fox was not assisting in the he like Shen, who had made his wolves do everything for him? And what was happening with the mayor?

Then, suddenly, a shrill, high-pitched shriek pierced the air like a sword. It sounded like a banshee. She recognized it as the red-fox screech- though she had seldom heard it. Ignoring it, she aimed a spinning back kick at the leopard's head, but this time the spotted feline twisted away in retreat, bounding towards the white she-wolf. So did the mouse, snake, raccoon, and even the masked fox.

Then something unexpected happened. The masked fox tilted back the she-wolf's head and place his claws to her throat, who started to wail in fear. It was clear by now that she was only a showcase.

"Move and we kill her." The leopard snarled, his voice deep and booming.

Po looked startled, yelping,

"Woah,woah,woah, no need for that! That is so uncool, turning on your own teammates!"

Crane was the first to move forward, saying,

"Let her go!"

"Let _us_ go."

Tigress spoke up, saying gruffly,"...Very well. We'll give you a five second head start." She didn't mean that. The second they let the she-wolf go she was going to punch that fox-wolf right in his stupid mask.

At first she thought they were going to refuse, until the fox-wolf leader released the wolf and shoved her roughly forward.

Crane caught the she-wolf, saying that it was okay while she sobbed pathetically. Good gods.

Then something glinted in the sunlight, and before Tigress could realize what it was, Crane had given a shrill squawk of pain as he was tossed backwards, a diagonal gash spreading from his left shoulder to the bottom right of his chest. Soon his feathers were starting to dye red, and Tigress could feel herself panicking. With a roar, she leapt at the group, to see the fox-wolf throw something down.

Soon, the entire platform was engulfed in smoke, and Tigress halted midair, choking and gasping. Faintly, she heard voices.

"Well done, Monoku. Very convincing performance. You looked so skittish, I thought you might jump out of your skin."

It was the deep voice of the leopard. Then she heard a gentle, feminine voice reply,

"Ah, I do what I can..."

And then they faded away to nothing.

Once the smoke had cleared, she found the platform slick with blood. Too much blood. Panicking, she rushed over to Crane, who was clutching his wound and staring wide-eyed, giving ragged breaths.

"Are you okay?" Po asked, urgency in his voice.

"Uh, ya. It's not too deep. I think. I think I'm just in shock." the bird hoarsely replied.

They all breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief. Tigress looked around for the mayor, and when she saw him, her heart sank.

There the raccoon laid, his throat ripped open wide. his eyes were glazed over in death, and his mouth lolled open in death. In the commotion, he was have died. She looked up to see the city almost deserted. It was no surprise, it was a brutal fight. Then she saw the note. It was in the mayor's bloodied throat- sickened, she tentatively pulled it out. It was a short scroll, but the message was to the point. It was stained with blood, but she could read it clearly enough.

_War is coming. I am Nokira, and before my tale is done I will have soaked all of China in it's own corrupt blood._

_Stay out of my conquest, and live a little longer, little kitty._

* * *

**have you guys ever heard a fox scream? Search it up on youtube, its scary. 0.o THanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2- Gongmen

**_Well, here is chapter 2! Thanks for all of the reviews, follows, and favorites so far! BTW, if you feel like an OC of mine is too Mary-Sue, or one of the chars are out of character, PLEASE TELL ME IMMEDIATELY, and how. I really want to do this correctly. Also, I would like to apologize for any seemingly unfinished sentences or typos ahead of time, I often don't catch them until I've published the chapter. :) Anyways, a little fun fact, Nokira and his followers started off as the antagonist for my failed 'Cheating Death' series, but I later discarded the series because lack of thought and how poorly written it was. however, Nokira held a favorite spot in my heart so I redid his design and his followers designs, and had him be the antagonist here. I'll draw him on deviantart. :D By the way, I messed up when I said 'year', I ment a few months. Sorry..._**

**_Songs listened to- Rains of Castamere instrumental, Mother of Dragons- Game of Thrones soundtrack_**

* * *

Viper watched as the six warriors disappeared from the scene, until snapping her attention back at Crane. He seemed okay, as he had said, but still... the viper was worried, and a tad humiliated. Facing the pit viper had been an unwelcome reminder of how she had a lack of venom. Her fangs had developed well enough, but she knew that she was incapable of producing venom. The viper, which species-wise was a Malayan Pit Viper- had taken advantage of the fact. He struck at her so much, because he did not fear her fangs. Snakes were always feared by their fast-working venom, and not having that fear and respect had been irritating, to say the least.

With a sigh, the emerald snake turned to see Tigress gaze grimly at a bloody scroll, saddening as she realized that the mayor's throat had been lacerated.

"Yaaa! Run from justice, cowards! You can't shelter yourself from the thundeeer!" Po whooped, only to turn and have all of his victorious feeling washed out of him like a torrent of rain.

Viper slithered over to Tigress, raising her upper body more to see the scroll. Upon reading it, she gasped a little. This was bigger than she thought...

As each of the Five realized what the note said, they all fell into an uncomfortable silence, even when the citizens reappeared and cheered. Guards came to take the mayor's body away, and the Furious Five plus Po ran back to the Jade palace, with only grim news.

* * *

"What?" Master Shifu snapped as he snatched the scroll unceremoniously from Tigress's paws.

Reading it, he sighed, and he seemed to be showing his old age.

"It may just be a false note." Po said, slightly hopefully.

"No... no. I've had my concerns about Nokira in the past, but I didn't think he'd end up so close to the Valley of Peace..."

Tigress interrupted, saying,"Wait, what? You know who Nokira is?"

Viper could agree with her excitement- she wanted to know the history of this mysterious and vicious new adversary.

The red panda shifted uncomfortably, admitting,"No. But I have heard of a rising force far west, so he might have something to do with that."

Viper murmured,"Oh my. If thats true, than we have another warlord on our hands."

Shifu objected,"No. From news I've heard, the west has taken a dip into poverty lately. There was no pride to be gained from capturing poor cities."

It was silent then, until Tigress spoke up.

"Is anyone seeing a pattern here?"

The Five and Shifu looked at her strangely, and the tiger spoke quickly,

"Look, hear me out. If they are the force in Western China, then they seem to only be targeting cities that are poor, or are in poverty. They have left cities who are financially stable, or just starting to dip, alone. If we can use that information to our advantage, we may be able to predict where they will strike next. And then we will be ready for them."

Mantis nodded his head, replying,

"That makes sense..."

Viper asked though,

"But where? Which city?"

Shifu shifted uncomfortably, saying,

"I think I might know. But you aren't going to like it..."

At those words, Viper's heart sank. She saw Tigress's eyes darken, and the rest of the Five looked crestfallen. With the killing of Lord Shen, the Masters' Council was unwilling to take up power again. With the absence of a leader, Gongmen had slowly succumbed to increasing debt. The once proud city was now starting to be run by gangs who claimed themselves to be the law- the actual law enforcement too scared and too few in number to crack down. What was scary was the alarming dip in the past month- things weren't looking too good.

"Gongmen City. If Tigress' deductions prove correct, it is almost certain where Nokira will strike next. With the harbor, factory, and good defenses, it would definitely be advantageous to him."

"Woah, woah woah wait." Po spoke up.

"Did Shen leave behind the blueprints to the cannons? If he did, then Nokira might be able to recreate his weapon."

Tigress looked uncertain, and she said slowly,

"We burned everything... He carried his secret to his grave."

"But Shen was crafty and paranoid." Crane objected.

"Along with intelligent. You just can't believe he wouldn't hide whatever blueprints he had. I believe he was smart enough to seal away the things he had. The peacock wouldn't just leave his plans in plain sight like that." Monkey added.

Tigress twitched her tail.

"Well, if thats true, then we have nothing to worry about. If we couldn't find it, than neither will Nokira. Besides, if your right, then Shen was probably paranoid enough to riddle wherever he hid them with traps."

"Blueprints or not, you are still traveling to Gongmen. If we don't catch Nokira soon, violence is sure to erupt." Shifu snapped.

Tigress grumbled something, but Po whooped, saying,

"Back to Gongmen, eh? Great. It's been a while since it has felt my fists of _justice._"

Viper sighed,

"Well, we can't go right now. Crane is still hurt, and we need to be on top of our game if we want to face them again..."

The bird looked annoyed, saying,

"Uh, I'm alright here!"

The snake rolled her eyes in amusement, but shook her head.

"It's been a long day. I agree, we need to rest like Viper said..." The tiger shrugged.

Shifu nodded, and together they slipped back in the Jade Palace.

* * *

At the toll of the bell, Viper whipped into her place, tongue flickering out. It concerned her when Crane wasn't as fast as he normally was- but he said that he was fine. Besides, she shouldn't be too worried, right? Today was the day that they inspected Gongmen. And by the looks of it, Tigress didn't look happy about it at all. She worried about her feline friend- Gongmen had been harder on her. But the tiger's pride refused her to talk to anyone about it and frankly she was just too stubborn. Ah well. Nothing she could do about it now, she supposed...

Shifu didn't have to tell anyone. Without a word, the Five plus the Dragon Warrior set off for Gongmen, Po packing all of the supplies as usual. After Po giving his adoptive father a brief farewell, Viper nudged Po to remind him and they set off.

* * *

The going wasn't really that great. Viper remembered the journey to be really hard, as traveling through the snow had taken a toll on her- being cold-blooded. However, the weather was warming up, so if anything she just hoped for less snow. The scorching desert hadn't been that bad. Of course, the other Four and Po had hated it by Viper didn't mind that badly.

And then- there it was. The spiraling towers, the sunset glow, the feeling of absolute awe... Gongmen City. She heard Tigress growl from deep within her throat, but she decided not to comment on it. She knew that the big cat held a grudge against the once proud city.

"So how long are we to stay here?" Tigress said coldly as she scaled the wall and waited for Po on the rooftop.

"I guess until something happens..." Mantis suggested.

And something did happen indeed. Not a week from their arrival, Gongmen was showered with blood.

* * *

A shrill scream split the air, and suddenly all of the Five and Po were up and racing towards the sound of it.

Tigress' eyes were bright in the dawning sky, her lip curled in a snarl. Her fearsome fangs shone pearly white, her ears flat against her head. Her long claws were unsheathed, gripping the ground and propelling herself far and fast. Her black striped orange fur bristled, and at the moment Viper was hoping whatever enemy would back off now- the tiger was angry, and an angry tiger was not something to be trifled with.

There was another scream, in the opposite direction. Tigress ordered quickly,

"Mantis, Crane, and Monkey, go that way. Po and Viper, you're with me."

Viper and nodded and skidded to a halt, whipping around to go towards the scream, when another pierced the air.

Then another.

Then another.

Then another.

It then seemed that the whole city was screaming, and it all seemed to be getting closer, then farther away again. Viper backed up with her companions, forming a circle. A shape suddenly darted through the cobblestone streets with something that looked like a brush in it's mouth, painting something dark and slick in the streets.

"There!" Tigress shouted, and the snake darted forward in pursuit, though she thought she heard Monkey yell to wait. Viper's tongue flicked out to taste the air repeatedly, and was horrified.

"I-It's blood." She said to herself, shocked and she followed the scent of this abomination. There was another scream- only this time it wasn't it fear or horror.

The snake recognized it as the shrill call of a fox, laced with triumph- and she had a feeling that she knew who it was. There was a loud wolf howl, and for a moment Viper felt a stab of pity for Gongmen. No wolf had howled here for a long time- and whenever it did it was in ill intention. Then, a leopard's roar. Viper suspected that would be the last of the calls- the other animals were not vocal enough to make their noises heard.

But she was wrong- a loud _hiissssss_ echoed throughout the alleyways, and a breeze of air was all Viper had for a warning before she ducked as a bouquet of knives flashed over her head. The snake eased into the offensive, snapping her tail out and grabbing the other viper's tail, slamming it down to the earth before she released it and slapped her tail in her assaulters face, hissing as he whipped his tail in front of her face.

It was the dusty brown pit viper. He hissed at her and flicked out his tongue. He was splattered with was no doubt blood, and he was covered with an array of knives. So much weaponry... He darted at her, stabbing and slashing at her with his tail that held the knife bouquet. Viper realized that she was at a distinct disadvantage- she held no weaponry, and no venom...

_I will not win this battle with no weapons... _She thought grimly, hissing in pain as one of the knives grazed her cheek. She used the closeness to her advantage- she quickly used her tail to pluck one of the knives out of his grasp. The brown viper hissed again, baring his venom-filled fangs before striking at her repeatedly. It was all she could do to not get bit- she knew that if he got her, it would be all over. She used the knife to keep him at bay, once getting a blow in- however the brief moment had allowed him to return one in kind.

Hissing, they circled each other in the alleyway, before something dropped to the earth in front of the brown pit viper as he slithered back a few steps. Viper narrowed her eyes at the snow-white pelt in front of her, a gleaming sword in her hand.

"You traitor." She hissed spitefully at the white she-wolf.

"One can not betray if they were never truly on their side." The wolf replied coldly, crystal blue eyes staring back at her as she dropped to all fours with her sword in her mouth. She had a deep purple top, but Viper could see the black of armor beneath it. However, it was all stained with blood.

_What was their purpose here?_

"However, I do like to even the odds once in a long while, green worm. I out-size you and with legs, so I will gladly kill you with this sword in my jaws instead!" She snarled.

_Even the odds?! There are two of you... and only one of me... yet... _

The she-wolf wrinkled her muzzle in a snarl before leaping forward quickly, but Viper was ready for it. She darted her upper body forward so that she was on the she-wolf's back briefly before reaching forward and slamming into the pit viper, slamming the hilt of the knife into his head. The snake under her went limp, but Viper knew he was still alive- only stunned and knocked out briefly. Panting she spun, but too late.

The she-wolf crunched her jaws down on the middle of Viper's body, and the snake cried out in pain, releasing her grip on the knife. Vaguely she saw the pit viper slither slowly away For a second she thought she was going to be eaten alive, but the hilt of the sword in the canine's jaws barred the way to her throat. Viper tried furiously to get free, reaching her tail to try to snag the knife on the floor. But the she- wolf thrashed her head viciously like an orca with a seal, and Viper came to a realization-

These warriors were not afraid to be as animalistic and vicious as possible. They had no honor. No morals. _Nothing._

The canine slammed Viper into a wall, and the snake lay there beaten and stunned, prepared for the cold kiss of steel to bite into her scales, but instead there was a loud caw and a yelp. The snake looked up to see Crane battling the she-wolf, who's blue eyes widened slightly. The wolf back-flipped backwards, balancing herself on two legs once more and the sword in her right paw, the bladed fan in her left.

The two fought- bird and canine for what seemed like forever, but was really only minutes. Crane swept his leg under the wolf's but she leaned but and landed on her front paws, delivering a kick with her hind legs but missing by inches. Her teeth were fearsomely bared, and her blue eyes were fire within ice. However, suddenly Po yelled a battle cry and sought to slam onto the she-wolf himself, but she heard him and just barely avoided all of his weight.

Seeing that she was outmatched, the she-wolf huffed and fled, Crane darting after her. Po knelt by Viper, and asked,

"You okay?"

The snake sighed and nodded, saying,

"Yes. Good thing you came when you did."

She saw the shapes of Tigress, Monkey, and Mantis enter view, and Viper gasped.

"You guys are hurt!"

Tigress had a cut on her left arm, Monkey had a black eye and his lip was bleeding, but Mantis had been lucky enough and small enough to avoid being crushed- however he looked dazed, like someone had swatted him hard.

"After you left, we were attacked by the leopard, raccoon and mouse. However, we managed to drive them off. And thats when we started to look for you." Tigress explained, though she looked hopeful about something.

"I was battling the pit viper, and then the she-wolf came in. I would have been killed if not for Crane and Po."

"Where is Crane now?" Monkey asked.

"He went off in pursuit of the white wolf." Viper reported.

Tigress grunted, saying,

"Thats not good, going off alone. We should go-"

They saw Crane return, a bit crestfallen.

"There you are!" Viper exclaimed.

"I started to chase after her... but she looked like she was leading me back into the clearing, so I figured I would be ambush and I came back here." He sighed.

Tigress nodded, and asked,

"By any chance, did any of you see Nokira again? I saw him watching from one of the rooftops, but..."

They all shook their heads. The tiger sighed, saying,

"Alright. Crane, tell Viper what you found."

Crane nodded, and said,

"When I was flying out looking for you, I noticed something. I flew higher up, and it looked like they were painting a symbol in blood. Guardsmen and a few civilians had been killed to draw it. It looked like a circle, and I guess they were going to finish the inside of it, but we stopped them before they could."

"A symbol..." Viper murmured.

"We'll have to look for something similar like it later on. As much as I hate to say it, we should probably be staying here for the next few days until we are sure they are gone. They might try to finish what they started." Tigress sighed.

They all nodded, and looked on as the sun rose higher, bathing Gongmen in a red that now the Five could only associate with blood.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait guys... I didn't feel like writing it until, well today...**


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